28 Days (and 888 hours) Later - Apple TV Take 2.2

Apple deigned us worthy of receiving the latest Apple TV firmware update yesterday, so this seemed as good a time as any to share with you my experiences of using Apple TV Take 2 to date.

The first question many of you will want answered of course is whether it’s worth buying. The answer is yes - if you live in the US.

The main rationale behind the Apple TV is to be able to display your TV shows and movies on a nice big screen HDTV, which unless you’re particularly patient and have ripped all of your favorite shows and films into Apple TV compatible formats means Apple Store purchases. The movie rental feature is particularly good, and I’ve already dumped my Netflix subscription in favor of using the Apple TV exclusively. But, if you don’t have access to the US store then these features are either not available, or have a pretty dire selection of content available. And without that content (or aforementioned ripping and converting) you’re left with a box that plays music on your HDTV. Woohoo.

Now, if you do live in the US there’s plenty to cause you to get hold of an Apple TV. The selection of shows is pretty good, quality is high and the complete lack of adverts is a godsend. My girlfriend is a TiVo addict, and even she loves it compared to the wonderbox. Movie rentals work as advertised, and if you’re willing to put up with a delay of up to 30 days from release on DVD then there’s plenty of current movies waiting for you.  On top of that is easy access to podcasts, Flickr and YouTube (if that’s your bag).

So what’s bad with the Apple TV? Firstly, the serious omission of support for subscriptions means you still have to either buy shows individually from the box, or purchase and download subscriptions from your PC and sync them over to the Apple TV. Next, all of the content is at the earliest a day old, and a lack of streaming support means no access to real-time content such as news or sports. Internet radio has also been oddly overlooked, which is a real shame as this is something I make frequent use of in iTunes. On top of that are the bugs which, whilst small, are still annoying enough to make you want to call Uncle Steve directly and give him a piece of your mind.

The Apple TV still has a way to go before I’m satisfied with it as a genuine Digital Age media hub. However,  it certainly is showing promise and the thankfully frequent updates will hopefully bring not just bug fixes but also incremental functionality to the device. Here’s looking forward to Apple TV 3rd Act.